Fwiw imo Mitchell would not dare to feed the media this kind of story which is on another level to previous reports. The past few days had a strange air of the Mcs going through the motions, resigned to future developments.

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The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie — deliberate, contrived and dishonest — but the myth — persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.~John F. Kennedy

@russiandoll wrote:Fwiw imo Mitchell would not dare to feed the media this kind of story which is on another level to previous reports. The past few days had a strange air of the Mcs going through the motions, resigned to future developments.

I agree RD. Some have commented on KH's scruffy appearance at the war memorial. Very telling I thought. She was nervous in the preceding interviews too.

I think the PJ are firmly in charge and I sense SY forced into playing catch up. I think someone has sung and material evidence culled. I believe they would be immediately arguido-ed if appearing on Portuguese soil. Maybe there was a change of plan for the third due to this. My opinion only.

@russiandoll wrote:Fwiw imo Mitchell would not dare to feed the media this kind of story which is on another level to previous reports. The past few days had a strange air of the Mcs going through the motions, resigned to future developments.

I agree RD. Some have commented on KH's scruffy appearance at the war memorial. Very telling I thought. She was nervous in the preceding interviews too.

I think the PJ are firmly in charge and I sense SY forced into playing catch up. I think someone has sung and material evidence culled. I believe they would be immediately arguido-ed if appearing on Portuguese soil. Maybe there was a change of plan for the third due to this. My opinion only.

They will look very suspicious if they don't hot foot it to p de l if they start digging like any normal parent would.

The Gypsies are going to do the diggingThe Cleaners will tidy up afterwards,Pot-bellied smellyman will fetch the beersWhite van-man will get the sardine sandwichesStairwell-lurkerman will take notes and photos

"Police will dig two areas of land surrounding the Ocean Club’s Apartment 5A, where Madeleine vanished on May 3 2007, and an area on the nearby beach."

Could it possibly be that SY are interested in digging up the area of ground outside apartment 5A where Eddie signalled? Not sure what they would expect to find there, but it might suggest that dogs are finally and perhaps reluctantly back in the picture?

Andrew77R wrote:A source close to the Mccann's has said that Andy Redwood is making excellent progress now SY have been given the green light to search a nearby beach close to where Madeleine disappeared.

This seems very signicant. Odd though. One minute Redwood and co aren't allowed to even interview anyone. Nect minutes they're barging in with lasers and industrial diggers. But if a body was found, could they suggest it was left by binman/ whoever- or would there be evidence such as drugs to implicate McCanns?

@juliet wrote:This seems very signicant. Odd though. One minute Redwood and co aren't allowed to even interview anyone. Nect minutes they're barging in with lasers and industrial diggers. But if a body was found, could they suggest it was left by binman/ whoever- or would there be evidence such as drugs to implicate McCanns?

I don't think an abductor would bury close to the site like this This seems more the actions of someone hiding a body who couldn't leave the location iyswim.DOn't think the guardian would have such an article unless some truth in itThey have been preparing the public for this all week

Well if it's SY who do the digging and they dig up part of the beach l will be optimistic. K and G would never like to admit Madeleine may be dead in that apartment because if people start being educated as to how long it takes for cadaver odour to develop which puts them firmly in the frame, and whoever heard of a murderer taking the body away with them?

The fact that they've admitted Maddie may be dead in the last few days and pinky not commenting speaks volumes.

And l had resigned myself to SY doing a whitewash these last few weeks. Game on again.

It was UK police, UK equipment and UK sniffer dogs. Nothing was found.

I'm of the mind this latest in the search for what happened to Madeleine is 'bollux media' (thank you Pat Brown for the 'company name') fed by bollux people who have something to hide or something to gain financially.

@margaret wrote:Well if it's SY who do the digging and they dig up part of the beach l will be optimistic. K and G would never like to admit Madeleine may be dead in that apartment because if people start being educated as to how long it takes for cadaver odour to develop which puts them firmly in the frame, and whoever heard of a murderer taking the body away with them?

The fact that they've admitted Maddie may be dead in the last few days and pinky not commenting speaks volumes.

And l had resigned myself to SY doing a whitewash these last few weeks. Game on again.

Yes but the Guardian article states that the story came from the Mirror (so I am still sceptical) but it does carry more credibility.

I do agree that if there is truth in this story it is probably a game changer. As suggested already, specific locations will be intelligence or informer led.

Totally agree that the tone in the MSM and TM is quite different in the last week. I had gone from optimism to white wash, but I am hesitantly positive again.

I'm with others on here that this could be a piece placed in 'The Mirror' in panic response. At first reading one might think it is SY, but the devil is in the detail - and 'launching' an extensive dig - is a bit different possibly from actually Leading or Carrying out the extensive dig. No way could they get permission. No wonder Clarrie had no comment on this one. Therefore, could it be that the PJ are about to carry out this dig and the Mccanns, having been informed of this, are powerless to stop them. And as we have so far gleaned - the PJ & SY are not exactly besties at the moment, could it be then that SY are powerless too and are trying to show, the public here, that they are the ones initiating the dig. It might explain the flurry of ridiculous stories and the rather haphazard Rothley commemoration - where I agree Kate's appearance - jeans??? was a rather strange choice for what was to be a very serious and emotional day. I'm not usually too hopeful lately....but this story, and the timing of it - I think actually does pose a lot more questions than whether it is just to sell more papers. Is that they have to report this story first before it becomes public knowledge. For sure it will hit twitterland like a bomb and then will be out there for all to see. Perhaps the MC's and their entourage are resigning themselves to whatever may come out of the PJ's next move.

Surely it's the PJ that will be doing the digging, not SY. But what's important, if it's true, is that SY are keen to attach themselves to it. Not only does it show their belief that Maddie is dead, but it completely rules out an abductor. No abductor would take a body away (that had already been present for at least an hour and a half), and then bring it back to the resort to bury it. It puts the t9 firmly in the frame. I can't believe they'd expect people to believe in a patsy so crazy he came back to the resort to bury the body. Is it a possibility that the body was stored in the scenic rather than transported somewhere? To my mind Gerry's smirking and duping delight shows one of two things - either the body is in a hiding place so good it will never be found (bottom of the sea), or in a place so blindingly obvious he can laugh at people.

The Guardian article states the Met is travelling to Portugal to "oversee" the digs. Quite different from the Mirror's assertion that they will launch and conduct the digs themselves.

If there is any truth in this, I believe it is the PJ who are digging or who have already dug and as usual it is the 'out of the loop' British 'end' of the investigation that are desperately running to catch up and clutch on to the PJ's coat tails as they whisk out of sight turning another corner not on the Met map.

But why? Gerry's confident "find the body and prove we killed her" tells me it can't be found. Gerry knows complete disposal has taken place with recovery not an option. So, cremation or disposal somewhere where recovery is impossible. (Personally I believe burial in vast marsh or bogland it the most simple and conclusive option.)

So, are they looking not for a body but for traces of where a body might have been?

@nglfi wrote:Surely it's the PJ that will be doing the digging, not SY. But what's important, if it's true, is that SY are keen to attach themselves to it. Not only does it show their belief that Maddie is dead, but it completely rules out an abductor. No abductor would take a body away (that had already been present for at least an hour and a half), and then bring it back to the resort to bury it. It puts the t9 firmly in the frame. I can't believe they'd expect people to believe in a patsy so crazy he came back to the resort to bury the body. Is it a possibility that the body was stored in the scenic rather than transported somewhere? To my mind Gerry's smirking and duping delight shows one of two things - either the body is in a hiding place so good it will never be found (bottom of the sea), or in a place so blindingly obvious he can laugh at people.

Your train of thoughts mirror mine. The other option is the blindingly obvious one - in the graveyard or church vaults with the rest of the dead, perhaps sharing a grave with another body. A masterstroke, because not only is this the one place the cadaver dogs are useless, short of exhuming the whole site, how will they pinpoint a corpse that has benn placed in another's grave? In a Catholic community already sick to the back teeth of the whole affair? Could it happen?

@nglfi wrote:Surely it's the PJ that will be doing the digging, not SY. But what's important, if it's true, is that SY are keen to attach themselves to it. Not only does it show their belief that Maddie is dead, but it completely rules out an abductor. No abductor would take a body away (that had already been present for at least an hour and a half), and then bring it back to the resort to bury it. It puts the t9 firmly in the frame. I can't believe they'd expect people to believe in a patsy so crazy he came back to the resort to bury the body. Is it a possibility that the body was stored in the scenic rather than transported somewhere? To my mind Gerry's smirking and duping delight shows one of two things - either the body is in a hiding place so good it will never be found (bottom of the sea), or in a place so blindingly obvious he can laugh at people.

Your train of thoughts mirror mine. The other option is the blindingly obvious one - in the graveyard or church vaults with the rest of the dead, perhaps sharing a grave with another body. A masterstroke, because not only is this the one place the cadaver dogs are useless, short of exhuming the whole site, how will they pinpoint a corpse that has benn placed in another's grave? In a Catholic community already sick to the back teeth of the whole affair? Could it happen?

This has often gone through my mind, too. Where did the PJ dogs lose the scent of Madeleine, when they were used early on? Was it somewhere near the supermarket or the church?

If the body IS buried in the church, it won't be difficult to check. The grave would either have had to be a recent grave where the earth is still rather loose, or a newly dug grave. There can't be that many people buried over a short period of time ( sometime between January and the time the dogs discovered the scent of death in the hired car). My guess would be 3 to 4 at the most.

The above is pure speculation on my part, of course, but it's far more common that some of us care to admit. My mind goes back to the murder of that young girl, in December? 2013, where she was last seen at Didcot train station. If someone hadn't spotted someone dragging a trolley bag near a cemetery, I doubt if the young girl's body would ever have been found, as the murderer and his accomplice had buried her body in a freshly dug grave.

Haha yes it seems we posted at exactly the same time! I've also thought about the graveyard option, and you're right it renders the dogs useless. Could the PJ really go round exhuming every grave to find her? It'd be an outrage but a necessary one, they'd have to be absolutely sure about it. The thing that confuses me is that the scenic was hired 3 weeks after the event, so where was the body in the meantime? Perhaps it's this temporary storage place they're looking for?

@nglfi wrote:Haha yes it seems we posted at exactly the same time! I've also thought about the graveyard option, and you're right it renders the dogs useless. Could the PJ really go round exhuming every grave to find her? It'd be an outrage but a necessary one, they'd have to be absolutely sure about it. The thing that confuses me is that the scenic was hired 3 weeks after the event, so where was the body in the meantime? Perhaps it's this temporary storage place they're looking for?

I 've thought of the graveyard too but some time ago I read an article about a cadaver dog that did find remains, or the scent of remains, in a graveyard. IIRC cadaver dogs can differentiate between bodies that are embalmed and those that are not. The dog was correct in that case and it's findings were central to the subsequent murder trial. It's a long time since I read the story and can't remember all the details but will try and find it and post if I can.